What World Does The Biden Administration Live In? | Opinion

Since President Joe Biden took office, he and his staff have engaged in a peculiar strategy. Rather than acknowledge the problems his policies have caused and try to spin them positively, the administration pretends they don't exist. It's the kind of strategy that would have worked before the internet and YouTube—like when Biden was first elected to public office.

As we see video after video of tens of thousands of migrants streaming across our open southern border, what was this administration's response? The American people were told it wasn't happening. Crisis? What crisis? Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said there was no crisis.

The Afghanistan withdrawal was an unmitigated failure. It cost American troops and innocent Afghan civilians their lives. In an ABC News interview, Biden promised that troops wouldn't leave the country until the government evacuated all Americans. There are still Americans stranded in Afghanistan. And despite the hours and hours of video showing the crisis and chaos, Biden hailed the effort as a "success."

Economists were shocked by the weak September jobs report. Not only did it fail to come anywhere close to predictions of 500,000 new jobs: we saw vast numbers of job seekers stop looking even though there are a record 11 million open jobs. And yet, Biden celebrated the economy, pretending it is strong. He called the report "great progress."

That strategy didn't work. Biden took a big hit amongst voters in several polls. Even media outlets that are usually soft on Biden called him out. Yet, the blatant falsehoods continue when it comes to the significant economic problems impacting Americans.

Inflation is through the roof with no sign of subsiding, and America has a supply chain crisis. To the Biden administration, however, it's not happening—or if it is, it is proof of the president's success.

Initially, the Biden administration denied the inflation risks of sky-high Democratic spending bills. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen downplayed concerns, telling CNN's Jake Tapper that she has studied inflation, so don't worry—"if it materializes," we have the tools to mitigate its effects. Indeed, she said the potential inflation would be "transitory."

At the time, Yellen argued inflation could potentially reach 3 percent. It's already hit 5.4 percent. And it's hurting families.

The Consumer Price Index hit 13-year highs in July, August and September. Year over year, families are paying more for everything from gas and groceries to home furnishings and appliances.

Inflation is here—and it's real. But the Biden administration and its allies claim it's a good sign that Americans can't afford things. Chief of Staff Ron Klain amplified a painfully inaccurate (and tone-deaf) tweet claiming inflation is a "high class problem." And Jen Psaki called rising prices a "good thing" because "more people are buying goods."

That's the message brought to you by the same people who claimed a $3.5 trillion spending bill costs nothing.

There's an obvious problem with Psaki's characterization: Americans are buying goods, but they're buying them for more money. We are spending more than we did a year ago because prices are up so dramatically. We're not getting more for our dollar; our dollar is worth much less than it used to be.

The rising prices are in part due to the supply chain crisis. Well, it's not a crisis, according to the Biden administration. Like inflation, the bottleneck of ships delivering cargo is a consequence of Americans buying so many goods.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN that the supply-chain disaster results from Biden's successful economic management. It shows, he argues, that people want to buy the goods being sent in because they're now making more money. Yet in August, a record 4.3 million workers quit their jobs. They're not getting paychecks—many are getting unemployment, with the belief that a more significant stimulus is coming their way courtesy of the Biden administration.

What about COVID closing down ports overseas? That must not have happened. What about cargo ships running behind because of backlogs? They must be delivering extra goods to meet demands. What about all the truck drivers who have left the industry altogether? Those reports must be fabricated.

The administration's PR strategy won't work much longer.

It can claim there was no crisis at the border, no problems with the Afghanistan withdrawal and the jobs report didn't say what it said. Unless those issues directly impacted someone, the American people won't notice them as much. People might get media reports or see a tweet about those issues, but most are busy living their lives.

But when Americans' heating bills go up, they're spending more for the same groceries they usually buy and they can't find their kids a Christmas gift that will arrive in time? They take notice. They'll seek answers, only to find a Biden administration that pretends nothing is wrong.

The White House seems to believe that most media outlets will play along. Biden isn't Trump, after all. While this assumption is usually a safe bet, it's not inevitable. Some allies in the media have been uncharacteristically critical.

There's also a level of DC elitism blinding Biden staff to the realities of life without cushy, high-paying government jobs. Biden doesn't feel an increase in gas prices because he hasn't driven a car since the '70s. White House staffers may not notice whole milk is more expensive because they drink intern-delivered oat milk lattes. They don't understand or care about Americans outside of D.C., New York and Los Angeles.

But the strategy might also come from desperation. They must know how bad things are—they're just hoping things get better so they can say they told us things would improve.

If they don't—and there's no sign we're going to turn things around—the Biden team will keep up the charade until the next election. Then the American people can give the Democrats a shellacking of epic proportions. And while the Biden administration can pretend the balance of power has shifted, Republicans will have the votes.

Jason Rantz is a frequent guest on Fox News and is the host of the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH Seattle, heard weekday afternoons. You can subscribe to his podcast here and follow him on Twitter: @jasonrantz.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.